Our media spokespeople

Specialist areas: children in care, adoption, school exclusion, national policy affecting children and young people

Carol started her career setting up print media enterprises before becoming Director of Marketing and Development at the University of Westminster, later moving to the British Museum in 1999 as its first Director of Marketing and Public Affairs. Her affinity for improving the lives of young people led her to the position of Commercial Director for the Prince’s Trust in 2003, and she became Chief Executive of Coram in 2007.

Formerly a member of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, Carol served on the Adoption Leadership Board for seven years and is a continuing member of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. She was Chair of the National Autistic Society for ten years and is now Chair of Diabetes UK. Carol was awarded a CBE in 2013 for her contribution to services for children and families.

Carol is regularly interviewed and quoted on all aspects of Coram’s work, across broadcast, online and print media. Recent interviews and comment pieces include The Economist, BBC News, ITV London News, BBC London News, The London Standard, and LBC.

Specialist areas: adoption, fostering, kinship care

James joined CoramBAAF in January 2022. James has over 7 years’ experience working with directly with children. He has worked as children’s Guardian and Family Court Advisor at CAFCASS and as a social worker in London and Norfolk operating in a safeguarding role. Prior to becoming a social worker James has worked in public affairs for The Children’s Society and NSPCC and as a researcher in Parliament. He brings a mixture of practice, policy and influencing skills in the children’s sector to CoramBAAF.

James can provide comment on different areas of children’s social care and often writes comment pieces for sector titles including Children & Young People Now.

Specialist areas: childcare, early education

Lydia joined Coram Family and Childcare from the Actors’ Children’s Trust where she was Head of Family Support, and previously led services at several charities, including the National Autistic Society, where she worked for 12 years and her passion for supporting children and families began.

Coram Family and Childcare works to make the UK a better place for families by bringing together learnings from its on-the-ground parent-led programmes and its leading research to campaign for solutions that parents want and need.

The charity publishes definitive data on the issues families face, including its annual Childcare Survey which is the most widely used source of information on the costs and availability of childcare in the UK. Findings from the Childcare Survey are quoted regularly in national and regional media, and Lydia has been our key spokesperson on our work in this area for BBC Radio 4’s Today and Moneybox programmes, BBC Radio 5 Live, The Independent, Big Issue, iPaper and others.

Specialist areas: children in care, care leavers, advocacy

Linda has worked in policy, research and practice improvement for two decades, specialising in issues affecting children in care and care leavers since 2008. At Coram Voice, she seeks to develop the voice of children and young people in the services that they receive. Linda leads on programmes that focus on policy and practice improvement through rigorous research, co-production and engagement with children in care and care leavers, including the Bright Spots programme, A National Voice, and peer research.

Linda previously managed Catch22’s National Care Advisory Service, leading policy and practice development for leaving care services including through the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum. Her particular expertise includes designing programmes together with children and young people, translating research into policy and practice, developing partnerships to improve services, and understanding children and young people’s perspectives.

Linda is available for interview and comment on issues affecting children in care and care leavers and has recently been quoted across a number of regional newspapers about children in care being moved miles from home, as well as a report on homelessness in Children & Young People Now.

Specialist areas: children’s wellbeing, Relationships, Sex and Health Education

Harriet leads on Coram Life Education and Coram Beanstalk’s vision for all children and young people to develop social and emotional skills for the future. She is responsible for Coram Life Education’s reach and impact in schools across the UK, working with trustees, central team and local delivery partners to ensure the service to schools is consistent and high-quality.

Harriet has been a leader within children and young people’s charities for 30 years – previously at Brook Young People’s charity and, since 2015, at Coram.

Harriet has previously written sector opinion pieces for Education Business, Children & Young People Now and others.

Specialist areas: Legal support for families, children’s immigration and asylum

Stewart leads on a number of policy areas at the centre, including asylum, trafficking/modern slavery and access to education. He is co-author of Seeking Support, a guide to working with separated children and young people. He sits on a number of working groups related to children and asylum, education and care.

Stewart is a practising Scottish solicitor, qualifying in 2010, and was accredited as a level 2 supervisor under the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme in England. He previously worked at an immigration firm, and worked for over four years in law centres in Scotland. He is current chair of the Board of Trustees at the Scottish Child Law Centre, having been on the board since August 2018. He also became a trustee of We Belong in 2022.

Stewart is one of our leading spokespeople on children’s rights and issues affecting children in the asylum system, and has previously provided comment for Community Care, Children & Young People Now and others.